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 Forum index » Chaotic Fiction » Marble Hornets
[SPEC] The Operator: Protects the Ark
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Blinus
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 		[SPEC] The Operator: Protects the Ark
Hiya, lurker turned poster! Wee.

I originally got into Marble Hornets a little bit before season 2 started, but I only watched about half before I got distracted, and now I've just recently gotten back into it, and damn I wish I hadn't gotten distracted.

So, I was going over everything we knew, and an idea started to come to me. And then it developed. And more. And I've got some work to be doing right now but screw that, I wanna share my theory.

Basically, the Operator wants to protect the Ark from people finding it, perhaps for their own good, and he's not above mentally scarring them to stop them finding it. I'm not sure exactly what, but the Ark itself may bestow something upon the finder (Or transports the finder to a place where something can be bestowed upon them). Maybe power and/or knowledge, or even immortality. However, most if not all people cannot actually handle this 'gift', and it breaks their mind and/or body. If The Operator himself was once a person or a spirit (Entry 38's stretching tree story) maybe he found the Ark, and attempted to use it to restore his body or life. He... came back wrong. Now whether out of a desire to protect people from what the Ark would do to any foolish enough to seek it, or out of malice at wanting nobody to get what they want from it because he didn't, he attempts to make it so that the Ark can't be found.

But even he can only do so much. He sets up a labyrinthine path of locations/landmarks, warping space and time through this maze, attempting to make the Ark impossible to locate. But there's always the chance that someone will.

And eventually someone does. Along comes the gang from the Marble Hornets film, and, aware of some urban legend mentioning the Ark, decide to try and find it during filming, just for fun, never actually expecting it to be real. Alex doesn't care. He's focused on his film.

Jay is the instigator of the search. He currently doesn't remember this. Furthermore, on one of their 'for fun' searches, it becomes clear that there really is something to the story. Someone maybe experiences the Operator's labyrinth, or whatever. So they continue to search, and while the Operator attempts to stop them, they are determined. At this point Seth may back out, no longer interested.

Just like Alex. The one who the Operator begins to seek out as a fail-safe should he himself fail. Unfortunately, the Operator's means of communication are limited, to put it mildly. But damned if he doesn't make the effort. Alex himself starts to lose it, not understanding what the hell this strange thing wants. With Seth, he actively seeks out the Operator, if only to end the stalking, one way or another. They find him in the labyrinth and the Operator is able to get Seth, maybe believing him to still be among the group that wants the Ark. He kills or mindwipes him.

Meanwhile, Jay finds the Ark. ... No, I'm serious, JAY is the one intelligent enough to work out the path to the Ark. Stop laughing. He becomes aware that finding it is dangerous, and volunteers to go himself. He doesn't inform the others of the correct path. Either he finds it and his mind is broken by it, or the Operator gets him in time and mindwipes him. (As for why the Operator doesn't just mindwipe them all, there might be some limitation to that, I admit I haven't worked that out). Now nobody knows the location of the Ark.

Given Alex's declaration of the others being 'gone', others are probably mindwiped somehow. He tells the now-unaware Jay that he's done and is leaving. Jay live his life for three years with no idea that he had done anything.

Someone who didn't get caught by the Operator, or somehow remembered everything (Tim?) takes the reins of the Ark search in Jay's stead. He and some others, either the remaining cast or others interested in the Ark, continue to search for three years, never coming up with anything.

Then Jay starts watching the tapes. He starts posting the entries. Somebody among the group still looking for the Ark becomes aware, and the group develops the totheark channel. Desperately, through their videos, possibly using methods/code that they want Jay to remember using from their initial search, they try to make Jay remember, or at least repeat what he once did, and find the Ark again.

Regarding Entry ######:

"We will wait for you no more." By the time of entry ######, they're frustrated with Jay's lack of progress. They will begin to move on their own.

"Control is being taken away from you." Jay is no longer seen as any sort of leader in their quest.

"From the start it's been a game for us. Not anymore." It was just a game when they began searching, but now they're beyond obsessed with finding the Ark.

"I'm coming for you, and you will lead me to the Ark." Like it or not, one way or another, they'll make use of Jay. Beyond trying to steer him, they're going to try and completely use him.

And so the Operator requests an old friend for help, and the seven months play out. Alex still doesn't know what's what, and not until he finally confronts the Operator does the meaning become clear. The Operator takes Amy, and if Alex wants her back, and wants to be left alone, he's going to have to stop Jay and totheark. Alex would really rather not kill Jay, so he tries to keep him ignorant of what he'd once done, and indeed eliminates anyone at all that may mess things up further, (Poor Bruce. The Operator cleaned up that mess because it would make things more than a little inconvenient), and decides to make Jay and Jessica get caught and mindwiped by the Operator as a means of protecting them, and not getting them involved further. It doesn't work.

...And that's all. There's plenty of things that this may be over-simplifying, and it doesn't cover everything, but that's what I came up with, based on what we know.

If you read all that, thanx. Smile

PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:47 am
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hsemagliG
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 		Uh can somebody get this kid a lap dance? I love this giant mess of speculation that you've thrown in front of us, and honestly, I hope more people read it. Hell, I hope that it becomes canon! If it doesn't though, write your own slender story. You seem to know good story structure and you'd need a damn good imagination to come up with THAT. Looking forward to see more posts from you in the future brah!
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 1:45 am
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Sinkes
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 		Re: [SPEC] The Operator: Protects the Ark
At first I was like "How do they plan on putting all of that in one season?" but then I was like "this could totally be explained in a single entry."
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 1:58 am
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theartful2342
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 		Holy...crap.

I love everything about everything you just said. I mean I'm not ready to say yes this is definitely what's going on, but...I mean that makes a LOT of sense.

Especially the bit about TO taking Amy to motivate Alex, and Alex not wanting to actually hurt Jay or Jessica so he tries to just get them mindwiped.

It does explain why focus has been taken away from the Ark in the latest TTA entries...that they've stopped looking to Jay to lead them there, there's no more reason to mention it. It would also be superawesome to look through the entries already posted and find evidence of the MH crew looking for this sort of thing...it would be actually a little mindblowing hahaha.

Although I'm wondering if you have any ideas as to how constantly filming yourself works into this? Unless I missed something in which case whoops, ignore me XD

PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 5:40 am
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Xman
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 		That's actually a really interesting theory. It makes a good amount of sense. I would be pretty satisfied if this was actually part of the story.

I can only hope that they throw in some twists and reconnections to earlier entries though. That kind of stuff makes me explode with joy.

PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 1:02 pm
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tijde
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 		Hm, very interesting. One possible problem pops to mind, but I could just be misunderstanding something. Here it is:

How much did Alex know about Jay's pursuit and discovery of the ark? And was Alex allied with The Operator before Season 2? If "they're all gone" refers to a memory wipe incident, it seems like Alex knew *something* weird happened. But if that's the case, then why would Alex give Jay the original tapes so easily? Giving Jay the original MH tapes would be like giving him the first piece to a puzzle Jay's forgotten. Jay's already solved it once; if Alex (and possibly The Operator) wanted everything to stay forgotten, why not keep or burn the tapes? Then Jay would stay blissfully unaware that the puzzle even exists, ensuring it would stay dead and Alex would stay uninvolved.
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 1:25 pm
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Silver seren
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tijde wrote:
Hm, very interesting. One possible problem pops to mind, but I could just be misunderstanding something. Here it is:

How much did Alex know about Jay's pursuit and discovery of the ark? And was Alex allied with The Operator before Season 2? If "they're all gone" refers to a memory wipe incident, it seems like Alex knew *something* weird happened. But if that's the case, then why would Alex give Jay the original tapes so easily? Giving Jay the original MH tapes would be like giving him the first piece to a puzzle Jay's forgotten. Jay's already solved it once; if Alex (and possibly The Operator) wanted everything to stay forgotten, why not keep or burn the tapes? Then Jay would stay blissfully unaware that the puzzle even exists, ensuring it would stay dead and Alex would stay uninvolved.


Don't you remember? Alex was going to burn the tapes, but Jay showed up just before and convinced Alex to give him the tapes instead. Alex, being memory-wiped and with just the overwhelming feeling that he had to get rid of the tapes somehow gave them to Jay instead, not realizing at the time that he was giving them to the person he was trying to keep out of it.

PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 1:29 pm
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Tharol
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 		Reading the interesting thoeries course we have not found the ark there.

PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 3:14 pm
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tijde
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Silver seren wrote:
tijde wrote:
Hm, very interesting. One possible problem pops to mind, but I could just be misunderstanding something. Here it is: 

How much did Alex know about Jay's pursuit and discovery of the ark? And was Alex allied with The Operator before Season 2? If "they're all gone" refers to a memory wipe incident, it seems like Alex knew *something* weird happened. But if that's the case, then why would Alex give Jay the original tapes so easily?  Giving Jay the original MH tapes would be like giving him the first piece to a puzzle Jay's forgotten. Jay's already solved it once; if Alex  (and possibly The Operator) wanted everything to stay forgotten, why not keep or burn the tapes? Then Jay would stay blissfully unaware that the puzzle even exists, ensuring it would stay dead and Alex would stay uninvolved.


Don't you remember? Alex was going to burn the tapes, but Jay showed up just before and convinced Alex to give him the tapes instead. Alex, being memory-wiped and with just the overwhelming feeling that he had to get rid of the tapes somehow gave them to Jay instead, not realizing at the time that he was giving them to the person he was trying to keep out of it.

Yeah, I do remember. But the OP doesn't say Alex was mindwiped. It says Seth was mindwiped or killed, and Alex still doesn't know what's what when The Operator shows up again in #26. That's why I asked for clarification about what Alex knows and when. I'm not dumping on the theory; I'm trying to reconcile it with what we already know.  

I doubt Alex was totally mindwiped; in #26, he takes control when The Operator shows up, instead of totally losing his shit like Amy does. I get an "Oh shit, not again" vibe, not a "WTF is happening?!" one. To me, that plus his actions in S2 entries indicate that Alex remembers *something* of what he went through with The Operator during MH--something beyond vague gut feelings.  

It's possible Alex was mindwiped, but when The Operator shows up again, he "breaks the seal" and Alex remembers. It would have to happen fast, and it would have to be intentional on The Operator's part. If it wasn't intentional and just seeing The Operator again brings memory back, Jay would already remember everything too.

So that leaves us with my original questions: How much did Alex know when he gave Jay the tapes?          
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 3:46 pm
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Tharol
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 		Okay I have ask what like was the said taping Seth got mindwiped. We like do not know exactly how thesaid tapes were found or given. Maybe we do it could be told more in commentary there. However I still wonder if something happen to Amy plus Jessica there. Great question how much there Alex knew abut said tapes.

PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 4:11 pm
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Roswell
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 		Alex and The Operator have some connection from Alex's childhood. Pretty important I would say.

PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 5:16 pm
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Tharol
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 		Does Jay or Jessica have relationship as child with Operator in video.

PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 6:16 pm
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dinorobo
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 		OP your theory is amazing. Have you considered making your own series? Seriously that was some awesome stuff.

PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 6:48 pm
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redherring
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dinorobo wrote:
OP your theory is amazing. Have you considered making your own series? Seriously that was some awesome stuff.


Shocked Gwah, it's almost like we're being reverse-trolled! Instead of posting nonsense and crap all over non-stop, we get one really amazing post and then nothing else!

Please return Blinus! We need more of your smart-person writing and theorizing and examination here! Very Happy That's some brilliant stuff you wrote down, there!
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 8:32 pm
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punxtr
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 		Meh, I don't think the story points in that direction at all. Thanks for the theory, but it doesn't feel right to me.
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 10:10 pm
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